NewCold marks opening of Lebanon facility
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Netherlands-based advanced cold storage logistics company NewCold marked the official opening of its Lebanon warehouse on Wednesday. The company says the 380,000-square-foot facility is the among the largest automated cold storage buildings in the world, and it will soon get even bigger.
The Lebanon project is being conducted over two phases. The $150 million first phase, plans for which were originally announced in 2020, has been operational for nearly a year featuring what the company calls state-of-the-art automation technology.
“We believe this facility sets a new benchmark for our industry,” NewCold founder and CEO Bram Hage said in a news release. “NewCold is at the forefront of innovation in the market. We are building a more resilient, reliable, and sustainable food supply chain to better serve our customers. This allows us to support their growth and strategic objectives – to better serve their customers.”
The first phase of the project has a capacity of 100,700 industrial pallet positions, according to NewCold. When the second phase is complete, that capacity will double to more than 200,000 pallet positions.
The second phase, which was announced earlier this year, represents another $150 million investment and is expected to be complete in the summer of 2024. When all work has been completed, the facility will total more than 700,000 square feet of space.
As of June, NewCold employed about 140 workers in Lebanon. In its commitment for the second phase of the project, the company said it would add about 100 jobs by 2028.
“Lebanon is thrilled to be celebrating the grand opening of NewCold,” Mayor Matt Gentry said. “With their highly automated storage systems, NewCold is on the cutting edge of our food supply chain and Lebanon is proud to be their home. NewCold’s investment further solidifies Lebanon as an important food manufacturing and supply hub in the United States.”
NewCold also said the facility is capable of running 24/7, and the company aims to make the warehouse increasingly grid-independent using power generated from various sources, including renewables.